Pac-12 (2.0) football: Key elements of 2026 season on hold as College Football Playoff negotiations drag on

LAS VEGAS With its membership set and media rights deals in place the rebuilt Pac- conclusively has clarity on the proper timing to announce its schedule bowl affiliations and format for the conference championship contest Those essential details will be revealed sometime after Jan Settle in folks The conference plans to wait for College Football Playoff executives to establish a format for the season and their Dec deadline was in the past few days pushed back eight weeks We re trying to be really deliberate around what we re trying to accomplish Pac- commissioner Teresa Gould communicated the Hotline this week at the Sports Business Journal s forum on college sports at the Aria Resort and Casino Getting our champion into the CFP which is where we think we should be every year is one of the priorities It s not the only priority It s one of the priorities Delivering high quality games is major both for our media rights partners and for our fans There are all kinds of considerations based on what we re trying to accomplish but I don t know how you decide that without resolution on the CFP Executives have attempted to resolve the CFP s future for bulk of the past year The SEC and Big Ten control the format but are obligated to consult with the ACC and Big primarily as well as the remaining FBS conferences At one point discussions focused on a -team field but SEC commissioner Greg Sankey and Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti disagreed on the format Sankey favors the so-called model in which there are five automatic bids for the highest-ranked conference champions and at-large teams Petitti proposed the so-called AQ model in which of the bids are awarded automatically with the Big Ten and SEC receiving four each and the ACC and Big getting two plus one for the highest-ranked champion from the remaining leagues After a months-long stalemate Petitti returned to the negotiating table with a -team playoff proposal but it has not gained much traction The commissioners faced a Dec deadline to inform ESPN the particular broadcast partner of any changes for the event In late November the CFP and ESPN agreed to delay a decision until as late as Jan the Friday after the national championship The Pac- will have a voice but not a vote in the expansion decision To me the decision is about what we re trying to accomplish Gould disclosed And for us it s fair and reasonable access The optimal outcome is I believe the five highest-ranked champions continue to get in and there necessities to be a reasonable number of at-large berths so programs that have earned it on the field have a shot What does that mean The -team format is something we re interested in Meanwhile Pac- bureaucrats are nose-deep in the nuts and bolts of the reconstructed conference Merton Hanks the chief of football operations has modeled dozens of schedules with both seven and eight conference games There are options for the conference championship as well The Pac- could use the home-host format or stage the meeting at a neutral site Discussion with anticipated hosts are ongoing Conference executives also have engaged in numerous discussions with likely bowl partners This is the final year of the current bowl contracts But everything is on hold for the CFP Once that falls into place it shouldn t take the Pac- long to fill out the details of its inaugural season Related Articles CFP picks Oregon Alabama Texas A M cover as expansion momentum builds CFP rankings Why ESPN won t agree to eliminate the Tuesday shows Big MBB power rankings Arizona Iowa State Houston BYU on top Notre Dame outraged over CFP snub despite system that benefits the Irish CFP winners Miami expansion G teams and losers Big Ten Notre Dame I would expect that after we have clarity on the CFP piece we would be in position to make decisions pretty briskly Gould reported It s super crucial because we have two great new head coaching hires Oregon State s JaMarcus Shephard and Colorado State s Jim Mora and six of our eight teams are going to bowls They want to start selling season tickets Whatever the Pac- decides it plans to remain nimble The CFP could remain at teams for then expand to or teams starting in Or it could expand to teams for next season and then grow again to for It s not just the format Gould announced It s any further tweaking to selection criteria which there has been a little of in modern years So it delays our decision We want to have all the information available to us to the extent we can Send suggestions comments and tips confidentiality guaranteed to wilnerhotline bayareanewsgroup com or call - - Follow me on the social media platform X WilnerHotline